The umpires were wrong.
We knew that already, but just in case there was any question, Major League Baseball confirmed it Friday morning. The umpires in Thursday night's Angels-Astros game made a mistake when they allowed the Astros to make a second straight pitching change before the first reliever faced a batter.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia played the game under protest, but his team came back to win, 6-5, so the protest will not be heard.
Even so, MLB said the matter "is being reviewed."
The mistake was stunning, in part because it seemed so obvious, and also because the umpiring crew included three veterans. Fieldin Culbreth (the crew chief), Brian O'Nora and Bill Welke have more than 45 years of major-league experience between them.
